This is a very well-thought out scam, that Paypal must have come across before, but has chosen to ignore customer's pleas and side with the Scammer due to PayPal's own red tape and rules regarding how they handle (or are allowed to handle) disputes.
- You order something from these people
- They send you a tracking number saying you will receive it in 1 month (for example)
- They send you something of nominal value, and usually broken (this is important!), 2 weeks before the tracking number says it is going to be delivered
- You throw it away, discard it, assuming it is a bonus gift or something silly, as it is nothing close to what you have ordered and no where near the supposed delivery date
- 2 weeks later you chase them as what you ordered still hasn't arrived
- They tell you it has - and quote the date that they sent the broken item
- You demand a refund
- They say they will refund you 100% if you send the item back to China, and that it is not broken. If it is broken 9which they already know to be the case), then they will not refund you
- They will offer a 50% refund straight away. Most of us will decline, as we will trust that PayPal will deal with this issue or us (as is their main USP for their service - safe purchasing)
- The moment you open a PayPal dispute, the scammer removes all refund offers off the table unless you close the PayPal dispute. Again, you trust that PayPal will deal with this for you.
- PayPal do nothing.....
- You are told that without photo evidence, or evidence that they have mislead you there is nothing PayPal can do
My situation may be unique as nowhere in the process, and even the order/tracking numbers did it mention that the product was coming from China, so when I received a random, unexpected package from a person (not company) I didn't know in China, during a pandemic that originated from China, I hastily disposed of the item and cleaned my porch, door etc. As far as PayPal were concerned, it was my fault for throwing it away, and the main reason my PayPal dispute was closed - siding with the scammers.
I even lodged a formal complaint with PayPal, to which they have completely ignored, which is a breach of the Complaints Procedure outlined by the Financial Ombudsman Service - who I have yet to get in contact with.
My advice is that no matter how many times PayPal tell you to use them for "Safe Shopping", or "Protecting the Customer" is part of their service, don't believe them. Just use your credit card company instead - in my eyes, PayPal are just another scam artist.
